As a lifelong wrestling fan, it is fair to say that my vision has been very narrow in terms of what I watch. It has almost always been WWE and TNA, with a little bit of Ring of Honor thrown in every now and again. It led to me to wanting to experience something new, with the ultimate aim of opening my eyes to a different realm of professional wrestling.

This past Sunday, I headed to the Guildhall in Stockport, a town on the outskirts of Manchester, to witness Futureshock 66, the latest in a long line of nights filled with explosive in-ring action. As I entered the venue, it instantly reminded me of some of the venues ECW used to use in the late 1990’s; in particular, the famous Hammerstein Ballroom.

It was tight, with fans closely packed together, although that only seemed to increase the atmosphere in the hall. And the people there were from all age groups, and all different areas of Wrestling. There were plenty of WWE fans there; there were Ziggler, Punk, Cena and Orton shirts on the backs of fans without looking more than ten feet away from where I was sat. On top of that, there were people wearing TNA merchandise, as well as official gear sold by Futureshock at the venue and on their website.

The in-ring action started at a tad past six pm, with a singles match between James Drake, one half of the Futureshock Tag Team Champions, the Blackpool Blondes, against Sean Daniels, one half of Notorious B.A.D. The match was a throwback to traditional wrestling, sometimes not seen on American television. Numerous holds, throws and near-falls made the ten minute match a joy to watch, and brought the crowd up to full volume early on. After Daniels tag-team partner, Sam Bailey, had been sent backstage after being tricked into holding one of the title belts, Daniels was hit with a superkick by Drake’s partner, Axl Rage. Stunned, Daniels was then hit with a double DDT, giving Drake the win.

The crowd were hot through the show, and the enthusiasm continued for the second match of the evening, a Tag Team match between Xander Cooper and Don Meacho, and the team of Joe Vega and Zack ‘Diamond’ Gibson. Cooper and Meacho made one impressive team, with Cooper the cocky heel, and Meacho an impressive monster heel. The look that he had on his face throughout the match was one of pure hatred, and with his impressive agility, he reminded me of Vader.

Once again, the match was technically solid, with numerous near falls, it was Cooper and Meacho who got the win with a schoolboy roll-up.

In this month’s Fighting Spirit Magazine, there are two features that are relevant to Futureshock Wrestling; the first regarding the wrestling school operated out of Manchester by Dave Rayne, and the second, surrounding one of the best young prospects currently on the British Wrestling scene; Josh Bodom.

These two men went head to head at Futureshock 66 in a Last Man Standing match. Both men had been feuding for months, with Rayne ‘bullying’ the youngster Bodom, and his brother Adam. The match was arguably, the best Last Man Standing match I have ever seen on television or live. In such a limited space, the two men took risks in an attempt to leave their opponent unable to answer the ten count.

It was Bodom who was at risk of losing first. After fighting their way through the hall, and after both men had taken chair shots, Dave Rayne put Bodom through one of the merchandise tables at the front of the hall, hitting the youngster with a devastating Double-A Spinebuster. After Bodom got up at nine, Rayne continued his assault.

After hitting Bodom with both a high impact Backstabber, and a Powerslam through a wooden table placed in the corner, Bodom started to get a foothold in the match. FSM’s One to Watch, Bodom set up a two layer table. After Rayne attempted what looked like a Pepsi Plunge, Bodom reversed it into a momentous superplex through the makeshift table. As both men struggled to their feet, it was Rayne who made the move to try and finish off his opponent once and for all.

Bodom had his hands tied behind his back, and with Rayne in possession of a steel chair, it looked like it was the end of the road for the youngster. However, after missing with what would have been a wicked chair shot, Bodom hit Rayne with an Enziguri, with the added impact of the steel chair, in the process winning the match.

The drama didn’t end there though, and Bodom was still helpless, his hands behind his back. As Rayne came with a steel chair, Josh was saved by his brother, who took the chair off Rayne, and chased him off. However, Josh was helpless to stop a vicious attack from his brother.

After a massively entertaining tag match between The Models and Project Ego, both of whom oozed charisma, and a singles match between Dangerous Damon Leigh and Axl Rage, we reached our main event of the evening.

In a match for the Futureshock Wrestling Heavyweight Champion, it was a battle of the behemoths. The champion, Cyanide, a 352 lb giant of a man, who for his size, was brilliantly agile, would defend his title against Dave Mastiff, a 300 lb man who was equally capable of defying his size.

The match was arguably the best of the night. Both men were at times close to winning the match. After teasing a Moonsault of his own, Cyanide was hit by what was easily the most impressive move of the match, and arguably of the night. With his opponent motionless on the mat, Dave Mastiff bounced with ease from the bottom, to the middle, to the top rope to deliver a devastating Springboard Moonsault.

It appeared as though Mastiff on his way to his first Futureshock Heavyweight Championship belt, but after delivering a German Suplex into the corner, the man from the Black Country (Birmingham way in England), missed a Senton Cannonball, giving Cyanide the momentum he needed.

After delivering a vicious Sit-Down Chokebomb, Cyanide hit the Splash, and in turn, pinned Mastiff to retain his title.

All in all, it was one of the best nights Wrestling I have seen, on television or in person. There was no need for long promos, or lengthy videos to fill time. There was just two and half hours of Wrestling, with the in-ring work providing all of the entertainment anybody could ask for.

Everybody left happy, and the wrestlers at the end of the night were happily mingling with fans and fellow professionals. I myself talked to Dave Rayne at the end of the night, and couldn’t have met a man with a bigger passion for this business than him.

This isn’t a plea, but if you get the opportunity to go to any local wrestling show, you really should. It is refreshing to get a break from the constant stream of TNA and WWE programming, and it will open your eyes to some of the best talent in the world.

For more on Josh Bodom’s young career, and the Futureshock Wrestling School, check out this month’s edition of Fighting Spirit Magazine, where you will also find information on more local shows around the UK.

For more on Futureshock Wrestling, and information about Futureshock 67, head to www.futureshockwrestling.co.uk

Comments

Futureshock is fantastic, but there are loads around the North West, GPW in Wigan, Infinite Promotions in Liverpool has a great venue in the city centre very near the train station as does Preston City Wrestling (which also brings in a lot of the big US Indy stars and ex WWE talent). And they all use a lot of the same talent.

Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back
to your blog? My blog site is in the very same area
of interest as yours and my visitors would really benefit
from a lot of the information you provide here. Please let me know if
this alright with you. Many thanks!